Results of the LR primary are being counted live. 6400 or so polling stations have given results out of 10000. Countryside results up first.
Big surprise as the third man, François Fillon, who was on the rise in the last week, is in a very large lead at the moment with 42-43%.
Juppé 27% and Sarkozy 22%.
All the other candidates below 3%.
The Juppé team is a bit shocked as they seem to think that Fillon only got traction at the very end and had one decent debate performance. I guess cities could move things a little, but Fillon is a MP for Paris since 2012, he's probably bound to have some ground game in the capital too. He is also a major figure in northwestern France, having been a region president and a senator.
To speak a little bit of the conservative political platform, there are a lot of similarities between almost all candidates and frontrunners, they :
- Will abolish the wealth tax, a small contribution levied on millionaires (5 billion in revenue per year).
- Will make tax cuts (which means they'll cut spending too).
- Will lower tax on private companies
- Will increase sales tax.
- Want to kill the 35h / week labor law.
- Want to push back retirement age.
- Want to loosen rules for laying off employees.
- Want to loosen the use of firearms for police (to align it on Gendarmerie rules).
- Will not touch to the recently adopted gay marriage law.
- Will not continue on cutting back on civil nuclear power (main source of electricity in France).
- Promise to tighten the grip on immigration.
You get the picture. Vey little on social issues, environment and foreign policy.
On the matter of the EU, Sarkozy wants a new treaty, a stronger executive and less power delegation. Fillon wants a stronger executive for the Eurozone. Juppé wants to reform the EU for less bureaucracy.
Sarkozy would absolutely pander to his right, Juppé to the center.
EDIT : Things are tense at the Sarkozy HQ "Journalists leave ! Traitors ! You all vote Socialist anyway"
EDIT 02 : Jean-François Copé, which I mentioned in an earlier post, is dead last with 0,3% and has only a short lead on white and blank votes.
EDIT 03 :
Sarkozy conceded. Will vote for Fillon in the second round. Will retire from politics... AGAIN.
Unless Sarkozy voters are undisciplined or stay home or independent centrists come out full force, Fillon has this in the bag.
EDIT 04 : Results with 94% of stations reported
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Fillon 44,1%
Juppé 28,6%
Sarkozy 20,6%
Kosciusko-Morizet 2,6%
Le Maire 2,4%
Poisson 1,5%
Copé 0,3% (has a 2500 vote lead over the blank/null votes...)
Fillon and Juppé advance to the second and final round next week.
Sarkozy and Le Maire will side with Fillon (though Sarkozy expressed a personal preference rather than a call to his voters).
Kosciusko-Morizet sides with Juppé.
For your personal information : Kosciusko-Morizet is the least conservative by a mile. A women, not too old, elected in Paris. Le Maire is a somewhat young party guy that did well in internal elections and thought he was a contender... Guess not. Poisson is a christian conservative.
A televised debate aired on the two main channels will take place.